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The City of New York’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) announced last week that Community Solutions and our partners have been selected to create a transformational mixed-use project on long vacant sites along Livonia Avenue in Brownsville.

I have been involved with and working in the Brownsville community for the past 50 years. I have been a motivator for change and an advocate for youth services, and I have encouraged inclusion in the process to create a dialogue that can help Brownsville residents be a part of solutions here.

I retired in 2013 to care for my mother, who passed away in 2014, which left a void in my life.

Hope was inside the Gregory Jackson Center for Brownsville in June when Community Solutions’ Brownsville Partnership opened its doors to the community for The Gregory Jackson Community Celebration of Life. The event was a celebration of the life and legacy of Gregory “Jocko” Jackson, in whose honor the building is named.

Jackson, a former professional basketball player unofficially known as the “Mayor of Brownsville,” was the founding director of the Brownsville Partnership.

We sat down with Mary Tobin, newly appointed director of the Brownsville Partnership, to discuss her vision for helping Brownsville address key issues identified by the community, like health, employment and safety. Mary, a West Point graduate and former Army officer, joined Community Solutions after working for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Residents of Brownsville face joblessness at crisis levels, even as the rest of New York City’s unemployment levels have fallen to pre-recession rates. Our partners in workforce development have been working with us to examine and retool their own processes and understand why, when, and how often Brownsville residents are able and unable to complete their programs.

Lidisis Mejia immigrated to Brownsville, Brooklyn from the Dominican Republic last year. Today, she she says her move was “the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Lidisis wanted to build a brighter future for herself and her two children, but once she arrived, she quickly saw that it would not be easy. Though Lidisis is a college graduate and worked as an ESL teacher in the Dominican Republic, her experience did not help her land even entry level positions in the United States. “I was nothing,” she says.

When Brownsville resident Keon Treadwell graduated from City College of New York in 2012, he expected to use his degree to find better employment prospects. However, his job search didn’t unfold as planned. Despite perusing newspapers and preparing for a job with the NYC Department of Sanitation, Keon found himself stuck in prolonged unemployment. On top of his employment frustrations, tragedy struck: his mother passed away, leaving him to care for his grandmother alone.

When you first meet 21-year-old Quaming Boatwright, his love for fashion quickly becomes apparent. No matter the season, Quaming never misses out on the chance to express his style, which is why you may see this Brownsville, Brooklyn resident sporting a blue collared shirt peppered with small white hats and bowties or staying warm in a silver studded leather and wool jacket.

But Quaming’s eye for beautiful arrangements isn’t superficial. He dedicates himself to putting his best foot forward, a trait helping him make a strong entrance into New York City’s competitive workforce.

For 44% of Brownsville, Brooklyn’s working age adults, the road to steady employment can seem almost hidden. Thousands of local residents - even those qualified for low-, mid-, and high-level positions - are still unable to find jobs despite their best efforts. Submitting applications online, visiting employment centers, and talking to potential employers in-person leads to a story many in Brownsville are too familiar with - basic job search tactics repeatedly yielding poor results.